An intravascular catheter is typically used to introduce an implant, e.g., an intracardiac occluder, into a patient's body. Generally, an intravascular catheter is an elongate tube having an elongate lumen extending from the proximal to the distal end of the catheter. Before a delivery catheter is introduced into the patient's body, air trapped in the catheter must be removed. To do so, doctors typically inject saline to flush the catheter. Most commonly, saline is introduced by a syringe into the delivery catheter at its proximal end, and saline is flushed out of the distal end of the catheter. As the saline passes from proximal to distal through the catheter, the air bubbles are flushed from the catheter lumen and pushed out of the distal end of the catheter.
A catheter flushing port is usually an integrated part of the delivery catheter. The flushing port is typically one port of a Y-shaped connector at the proximal end of the delivery catheter. A typical catheter flushing mechanism includes a syringe for introducing saline, and a three-way stopcock for connecting the syringe to the flushing port of the “Y” connector thereby creating a liquid flow-path from the proximal end to the distal end of the catheter for the saline. A second port of the “Y” connector allows a delivery wire such as a guide wire to slide through the catheter.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical form of a catheter flushing system 10 known to the prior art. It is used to remove air trapped in the catheter before the catheter is introduced into a patient's body. In this form, a delivery wire 302 slides through the guide wire port 308 of a “Y” connector 320. A syringe 200 for introducing saline is connected by a three-way stopcock 306 to the connector port 310 of the “Y” connector 320. The three-way stopcock 306 opens to create a liquid flow-path for the saline. Connections between the syringe 304 and the three-way stopcock 306 and between the three-way stopcock 306 and the “Y” connector 320 are standard luer locks. To flush the catheter, the three-way stopcock 306 is manually switched to open the flow path for saline between the syringe 200 and the connector port of the “Y” connector 320. The operation of the stopcock requires that the clinician hold the syringe, actuate the three-way stopcock to open the flow path and inject the saline to remove air in the delivery catheter. The clinician must then close the stopcock, remove the syringe and introduce the catheter into the patient, e.g., into the femoral artery. As a result, the simple act of flushing the delivery catheter is technically difficult.
The present invention addresses this difficulty.